At Saturday’s Eastern College Athletic Conference championships for indoor track and field, the women’s 4×800 meter relay team shattered the school’s record for the event. The quartet of junior Kellie Hasselwander and freshmen Sadie Gollub, Lisa Cole and Suzanne Giunta finished in 9:42.60 for third place, breaking the previous indoor record of 9:48 set in 1989. This placing contributed six points to the team’s total of 16 over the two-day competition, putting them 22nd out of 55 teams that scored.
Junior Stacie Woods also placed in her event, inching out a competitor by 0.12 seconds to come in fifth in the 500 with a time of 1:19.50. Hasselwander earned five additional points for UR by placing fourth in the one-mile run with a time of 5:11.99. Cole just missed placing in the event, coming in ninth with a time of 5:17.52.
Running in her second race of the season, sophomore Nancy Tremblay placed 18th in the 55-meter dash by crossing the line at 7.63 seconds. Junior Michelle Andrews had the 14th best preliminary time in the 55 hurdles, finishing in 8.92.
Other relay teams had solid showings, as the 4×400 team placed 10th with a time of 4:08.76. They were less than a second away from scoring for the ‘Jackets, as the eighth place team finished in 4:08.07. The distance medley relay group placed 11th, their final runner finishing it out in 13:04.02.
In the field events, junior Anjuli Cherukuri was the lone scorer. She placed eighth in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 3.22 meters. Freshman Melissa Skevington launched herself 10.10 meters in the triple jump to finish 11th, and in the long jump, she placed 15th with a jump of 4.94. Sophomore Jamie Landry also had a sound showing in the long jump. She placed 13th, making her mark at 4.98. Sophomore Jonelle Redhead threw the weight 13.02 meters to place 19th.
The women now have a slight break until the outdoor season begins. Their first invitational will be on March 30 at Ohio University.
The men’s team also had great success at the ECAC championships. They finished the weekend with 18 points, placing them 14th out of 53 scoring teams.
Junior Mike Burgstrom had the best showing for the Yellowjackets, placing second in the weight throw with a distance of 17.85 meters. This finish gave the team eight of the points they earned over the weekend. His placement was UR’s only representation from the field events.
In the relays, the 4×400 team of seniors Jacob Pylman and Brian MacIlvain, sophomore Marquis Turner and freshman Sean Adams placed fourth with their final runner crossing the line at 3:25.26.
The 4×200 team, which consisted of both Adams and Turner, as well as junior Max Ehrmann and sophomore Travis Buttaccio, placed eighth with a time of 1:33.17. Their heat was a nail-biter, however, as they came in just 0.09 seconds behind seventh place Salem State College, and sixth place Washington and Jefferson College finished in 1:33 flat. The distance medley relay team of sophomore Brian Kraftschick for the 400, sophomore Brian Willsey for the 800, sophomore Dan Chebot for the 1200 and senior Nick Roosa for the mile placed 16th with a time of 10:51.55.
MacIlvain not only placed in the 4×400 but also in the 800-meter run. He finished in 1:56.79 for fifth place.
Adams narrowly missed scoring in three events, as he had the ninth best preliminary time in the 55-meter dash. He was behind the eighth best time by only 0.01 seconds.
While the ‘Jackets had very little representation from the men’s side at the competition, nearly every male participant earned points for the team, which propelled them to place so highly.
The indoor season is done for all but one of the Yellowjackets. Burgstrom will be traveling to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind. for the NCAA Division III indoor track and field championships to do battle against 10 other top weight throwers in Division III.
He currently has a thrown the seventh longest distance in the nation.
Philbrick is a member of the class of 2009.
